Ruger American now in .223!

[19-3Ben]

Just checked my email, and got the notice from Ruger.

I'm very excited to see that the American is now available in .223. I think the night lightweight rifle and that round are a really nice pairing, and one that I have been waiting for. I'm pretty psyched.

 

[matai]

This is an honest question:

What is a 223 bolt action rifle good for?

Is it just paper punching or is the 223 good for some hunting?

I like the idea a lot, just not sure what I'd use it for.

Sorry if this is too much of a thread drift/stupid question.

 

[LSMS]

This is an honest question:

What is a 223 bolt action rifle good for?

Is it just paper punching or is the 223 good for some hunting?

I like the idea a lot, just not sure what I'd use it for.

Sorry if this is too much of a thread drift/stupid question.

Coyote for one. Pretty much anything up to whitetails, where legal

 

[Blackrock]

.223 bolt gun is a good varmint setup. Yotes n Pdogs are what I go after with mine.

 

[Omaha-BeenGlockin]

You can hunt deer in this state with a .223

 

[Ks5shooter]

Good truck gun on the farm IMHO....Don

 

[mac66]

If you had a lot of 223 ammo it would be fun to shoot. It is nice that they also introduced the all weather (stainless) version in conjunction with the 223. I don't varmint hunt so I would rather have the .243 all weather compact version for deer hunting.

 

[kcofohio]

I like Rugers and bolt actions. And I have picked up a lot of .223 casings at the range. Hmm, guess I keep my eyes peeled for when they show up at the LGS.

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[HOOfan_1]

What is a 223 bolt action rifle good for?.

predator and varmint

 

[nathan]

.223 is much much better than having a .22 WMR. But personality i rather get a 243 . It is scary accurate and can handle deer and hog s if placed right.

 

[strambo]

Haven't heard of these. Just looked it up on the Ruger website. The compact in .223 weighs 6lb, 18" barrel, adjustable trigger, bedded and floated with 1x8 twist. All for $450 retail, looks like they got it right!

I'm used to something being off, like all the specs are great except the twist is 1x12 or something like that.

I just saw a chart the other day of .223/5.56 ammo in ARs from 10.5" to 20" barrels comparing velocity. The gains from 18"-20" were negligible, like 50fps or less for most loads.

If this thing can hold 1MOA with match grade ammo or tailored handloads it may be the perfect varmint/predator truck gun! The Leupold Mark AR 3x9 with the 55gr BDC dial would be a great budget scope pairing also.

 

[19-3Ben]

This is an honest question:

What is a 223 bolt action rifle good for?

Is it just paper punching or is the 223 good for some hunting?

1) Range use. With .223 costing much less than other centerfire ammo, it would be nice to get more trigger time for my buck.
2) In a rifle this light, shooting a load that recoils as little as the .223 does is nice, and this could make a great range fun gun for my recoil shy wife (if she wants it of course. Up to her, but it's nice to have the option.)
3) If one of those situations happened that we don't discuss in THR, it would be nice to have a rifle as reliable as a bolt gun, that's only 6 lbs (so easy to carry on foot), uses a round that is as common as any except maybe .22lr, and has an effective range out to a few hundred yards. Also, being a bolt gun, it won't get as much unwanted attention here in CT as an AR15 would.

 

[CraigC]

.223 is much much better than having a .22 WMR. But personality i rather get a 243 .

Somehow I don't really see the .22Mag competing with the .243. Two different cartridges with different purposes.

 

[kcofohio]

The other calibers of the American have been listing for $369 at the LGS.

 

[Fiv3r]

The compact version looks like a fun truck gun.
Also, a cheaply fed bolt gun chambered in the same caliber as my AR might make for some fun shooting practiced without burning through 30 rounds in a minute.

If 7.62x54r ever goes out of vogue, i would certainly consider one of those. Actually, a .308 American has been on my to-get list for some time.

 

[sappyg]

Last Saturday The guy behind the counter at a LGS had to ask 'what are you looking for'.... Picked it up yesterday. Slapped a Simmons 8 point 4x scope on it last night and snuck out to the range this afternoon with the 223 Axis in towe. Winds were gusting to 30 mph.
I was using my reloads with 53gr hornady match HP pushed by a max charge of 748. Of the three 3 round groups recorded I was able to get 1 1/4" average at 100 yards.
The bolt is a little sticky and this was the 1st time in my life I have ever had a failure to feed from a bolt action. Same round too. You gotta really jerk and slam that bolt to feed reliably.
The stock nearly mirrors the Axis stock. Same feel same flexibility. Side by side it is dwarfed by the Axis. It's a true carbine. Light. Short. Perfect!
OTB the trigger has just a moment of creep but very pleasant overall. I'm sure this thing will do better after some tuning and finding the right load.
At this point I have no idea what I'm going to use it for other than shoot crap out of it.

 

[targetshooter22]

I'm curious, to the OP, how do you like it? What do you think of the trigger? Any range results yet?